Red Winged Blackbird

A Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) sings atop a fence at a small finca (farm) near Fortuna Falls. This was the only singing red-wing that I found on the 6/98 trip. His song and calls are "thin" compared to ours in the US, but I have only this one sample to go by.

Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) inhabit the marshes around Peck's Lake [Arizona] along with their cousins, the Yellow-Headed Blackbirds. They have several vocalizations, three of which are represented in this sample.

And here are "Four and Twenty" Blackbirds (Red-Winged) all singing at once.

Here's that gurgling song that everyone associates with wetlands. This one is in Peck's Lake [Arizona] in mid-March, staking his claim on a prime piece of marshy real estate. Listen for his "chacks" and whistles between the loud calls.

This unusual "piping" by a male Red-winged Blackbird was directed at an interloping male. The calls were actually about 5 seconds apart, but I took out some silence in the interest of bandwidth here. I'd not heard this call used to warn another male before, but the intruder got the point and soon left the area.

Another group songfest - this time from a "Lek" of 25 or so Red-wings in the morning. I'm not sure this is a true Lek, but the ingredients are all there - lots of males (2/3 of those in attendance are male) singing with lots of females listening, and since it's in the Spring (2/16/99) and in the morning, it seems like Lek behavior. Note the silence midway through the sample - sudden and almost orchestrated - something distracted them for a moment.

In this sample a young male seems to "stutter" when he calls - recorded near Pinal Air Park, southern Arizona, 4/99.

Augusta, Richmond, Georgia

Rocky Point Bird Observatory, Vancouver Island, BC

Michigan, Belle Isle

Michigan, Metro Beach Metropark

Michigan, Pte. Mouillee SGA

Laramie, Albany, Wyoming

Minatitlan, refineria de SAnta Alejandrina, Veracruz

Casuarina, South Abaco

Baton Rouge, East B. R. Parish, LA

Dordt College Prairie, Sioux, Iowa

Robert K. Rees State Park, New Port Richey, Pasco, Florida

Robert K. Rees State Park, New Port Richey, Pasco, Florida

Robert K. Rees State Park, New Port Richey, Pasco, Florida

Sugarbush Dr, Holiday, Pasco, Florida

Sugarbush Dr, Holiday, Pasco, Florida

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve, Okeechobee, Florida

Honeymoon Island State Park, Dunedin, Pinellas, Florida